Ep 123. Be Chic and Stylish in the Second Half of Life

I am Kym Showers and this is Reinvented After 40, episode 124, Be Chic and Stylish in the Second Half of Life.

Welcome to the Reinvented After 40 podcast. I am your host, Kym Showers, and I’m a certified life coach for women in the second half of life. Each week I’ll bring you direct advice and inspiring, practical wisdom to help you live your very best life and create a future you’re absolutely obsessed with. It’s going to be fun, let’s get started.

Hey, my friends, welcome back to the pod. Happy Pod Day, my favorite day of the week. I love recording on this day and I love my episodes coming out on this day. It’s a Thursday here on the Central Coast of California, beautiful January day with the bright blue skies, the bright blue ocean, the sun is shining. I know, it’s incredible. I’ve had shorts on today.

But I’m going to jump right in, you guys, because this is a topic that I don’t think I’ve ever really thought about just having it just be one specific episode. But let me say that I am convinced that being stylish and chic in the second half of life will absolutely up-level every single thing about you and I have experienced that. I have found a style that is completely me and no one else. And it is such a difference between feeling stuck and frustrated and even stressed about getting dressed every day.

And even turning down invitations because I didn’t have anything to wear, to now I have a closet that is curated with every item in my closet being something that I love to wear. And most everything is an example of who I am. Are there rules about style? Certainly there are, but are we going to break all the rules and we get to decide what style we are and throw out all the rules? Yes, I say we do that in the second half of life. So if you’ve been following me on Instagram, you see my style. You see the clothes that I wear. It is a blast to go into my closet.

I have so many cute outfits that all kind of exchange, inter match with each other. I have, I’m going to put it in quotes, ‘a uniform’ that I wear most days that looks so chic, so stylish, so fun, so colorful, very energetic. And that is my vibe. That is my style. Any chance I get to get dressed up, I have so many cute, stylish, chic dressy outfits to go out in that it takes away any of that anxiety that you might be feeling about getting dressed up, getting invitations, what do I wear every day.

I used to live with a closet filled with clothes, so many clothes. And I bought so many more clothes then than I do now and I never felt like I had anything to wear. It’s a really confusing state to be in and I know you know what I’m talking about. So I just want to encourage you today with the thought that it is important for you, first of all, for the year of 2024 to clean out your closet. I’m going to call it just releasing clothes that are outdated, that do not fit you, that you’re hoping one day will fit you, that you spent a lot of money on, that you’d never wear.

I want you to release all of those to the universe. I want you to, in other words, get rid of them. Get them out of your closet. And I only want in your closet, clothes that represent the new you, that represent the image of the woman you’re becoming by doing this work, by no longer being quiet and shy and hidden and I’m going along with the crowd. But being like this up-leveled version of you who loves to elevate a room when she walks into it, Who loves being confident and growing her self-concept and thinking different thoughts about herself.

I want you to be the newest you, the brightest you, the most confident you, you can be. And I’m telling you right now that up-leveling your style, being a woman in the second half of life who isn’t afraid to stand out when she walks into a room, who is chic and has a whole different vibe about her. It’s so attractive and it will give your life, new life, more life, more energy in your everyday life. I do not want you to spend one day being frumpy ever again.

You can put your cozies on. I call them my cozies. They’re kind of my jammies, but I have several pairs of them, but they’re so cozy and so comfortable and so cute. And that’s what I’ll wear after a day of work, after we get home from going out. If I have a day off, I’ll wear my cozies most of the day. But even when I go to Orangetheory Fitness, you guys, every single morning, I’m very stylish and chic. And it’s on purpose because it is my image. It is my vibe. It is my brand and it up-levels my entire energy all day.

So I don’t want you to be shy about it anymore. I want our style and buying clothes and curating your own, maybe a new style, getting rid of all just the bland tans and beiges and whites and denims. Keeping the pieces that are timeless, but also mixing in new, updated, even trendy pieces into the mix and knowing, even being able to plan out what you’re going to wear every day with ease and excitement. And I just think it’s so fun to go in and pick out what I’m going to wear because I have so many choices.

And, you guys, my closet used to have so many more clothes in it and I never have felt like this. And then I released all of those clothes and I curated a whole different vibe. And now I walk into my closet every day. I have my uniform, which is my Free People black leggings. They look so good on me because I’ve trained my body so hard every day. So they look so good on me. And I can wear them with boots. I can wear them with my Stella McCartney Tennies. So I can put all black on the bottom and then I put a pop of color on top. So that’s my uniform.

I’ll wear one of my SKIMS, bright colored, fitted tops. And I have them in every color. So I have them in chartreuse. I have them in bright orange. I have them in bright pink. I have them in a Kelly green. I have them in, I don’t know what that blue is called, but you know that bright blue that’s so cool that we all love so much? And I have them in short sleeve and I have them in long sleeve. And that’s my uniform. And I feel so beautiful in it. I feel so stylish and chic. I feel I am just full of energy. I love the way I look. I love the way I feel.

And then I go on with my day. There is no stress involved. The decision’s already been made. It’s only what color top am I going to wear today? And it is so fun. And then the rest of it, I don’t like a lot of fabric. I don’t like flowy tops. I have some pants that are wide leg that I absolutely adore. I’m more into fitted clothes and so that’s my style. That’s my particular vibe. And it’s just so easy and so simple. And I wear my big hoop Jennifer Fisher earrings, I wear those every single day and my Apple Watch and my wedding ring and that’s it.

I don’t wear a lot of accessories. I don’t like all of that on me. So I have curated a beautiful, stylish, chic wardrobe that is simple, that is clean and that just fits every occasion. And I love it so much. And I have my go to pieces when I am going out. I love my blazers. I love my suits. I have a lot of those. And my go to brands are Veronica Beard for blazers and suits. And there’s another company called Generation Love for blazers and suits that I adore. And I shop at Revolve online.

I don’t do a lot of in-person shopping. Most of my shopping is online. I shop at SKINS and Great Good American for my tops. And I shop at Revolve for my dresses. And sometimes my shoes, I shop at Stuart Weitzman for my boots and my heels. And so it’s all pretty simple. And everything kind of just goes together and is all my style. And I want you to know, I’m so proud of it. It makes me extra confident. The more my self-concept grows as far as who I am as a 62 year woman in the world. I know there are no rules for my wardrobe. I get to decide what those rules are.

So whether it’s trendy and fashionable, I get to decide that and it’s all about who I am and the energy that I want to take with me throughout my day. And I know exactly who I am and I know exactly what energy I’m going to take with me throughout my day. So I know exactly the pieces of clothes that I want to purchase, that I want to invest in and that I want hanging in my closet, available to me every single day. They all want to be part of my day. That’s how I think about my wardrobe and my closet? They’re just like, “Pick me. Pick me. I want to go with you today.”

So that’s how much fun we have together. I just look at it as just part of my growth and investing in myself and the value that I place on myself and holding myself in the highest regard and with the utmost respect. So I don’t want to be slumpy or frumpy. I want to be able to represent this bold, bright, colorful woman that I am. And it’s very attractive. And I want you to borrow all of these thoughts. And I want you to know you are already her. You are already your highest self. You are working hard to be her.

And I want your wardrobe and your closet to represent that. And I promise you, you guys, you’re going to have so much fun in your days. I want you to take away the stress of dressing. I don’t ever want you to not do something that you really want to do, that you really want to say yes to, that your highest self would say yes to, but you just don’t ‘think you have anything to wear’. I want you to solve for that right now.

This year I want you to release, get rid of clothes that do not fit you, that are outdated, that are not comfortable, that don’t represent where you’re headed in this new version of yourself. And I want you to start collecting and curating this whole new bright, beautiful vibe that feels stylish and chic to you. And I’m telling you, it changes everything. So I really want to share my excitement. It’s been a part of my life now that I think I mention clothes every once in a while, but I don’t think I’ve dedicated a whole podcast episode to it, but that’s how important it is.

It’s so important for us women in the second half of life to feel so powerful in our skin, in our clothes. It up-levels really, truly our confidence and our willingness to be honest and to go after our dreams and to work on our goals and know that we are worthy of all of it. It’s kind of shocking how much impact it has on any room we walk into. People are drawn to stylish, chic, confident women. And I want all of us to experience being her. It’s worth the investment.

It’s worth the time and the work and the mental work of going through your wardrobe and truly letting go of things that are no longer serving you. Just like I teach you to let go of old thoughts that are no longer serving you, that are not useful for you, I want you to let go of any clothes that you have, any shoes that you have that you’ve been hanging on to. It’s almost like an emotional attachment and I totally get that and understand it, but don’t overcomplicate it. Let it go and then have your own back about it.

And when I say have your own back about it. I mean, don’t spend any time in confusion or regret or being mad at yourself for letting things go or think that you wasted any money on them. You did absolutely not. This is just a different mindset, a new mindset. And we’re just so future focused that I’m telling you 100%, you guys, to curate a simple, clean, beautiful wardrobe, even a capsule-ish wardrobe where everything makes sense. And you can plan out a whole week’s worth of outfits that are comfortable and stylish and chic, that you feel so confident in every day.

And you just walk into your closet every morning and you’re so excited to get dressed. Can you imagine that? This is what I’m talking about. It’s worth the work. It’s worth the investment to do it. Give yourself a timeline. Say, “I’m going to get this done by the end of January. I’m going to start collecting this whole new vibe for myself.”

Anything I’m drawn to, I even started a Pinterest board when I started doing it and just went through Pinterest and started pinning outfits that I was really attracted to that I thought were super stylish and chic and that I could see myself in. And your body type plays a role in it and you get to just decide what you feel good in and what you look good in. Doesn’t really matter what anyone else thinks, it only matters what you think. And I love the way I look. I love the way I feel every day. And it truly represents who I am and who I’m becoming.

And I really don’t know any other 62 year old woman who dresses like I do and I love that. I love that I stand out. I love that I’m confident. I love that people give me compliments all the time. Women come up to me all the time and say, “I love your look.” And I always say, “Thank you.” And I love feeling like that. I love looking like that. I love moving through my life like that. It makes my life so much more interesting, so much more energetic and optimistic and so much more fun for me.

So I want you to be able to say the same thing for you. I think this is a really good thing to focus on and to concentrate on at the beginning of the year and then enjoy it for the rest of the year. And it can be something that you just kind of decide, maybe you pick three different kinds of brands that you really love. You love the colors, you love the way that they fit, you love the materials that they use. They’re comfortable, but you feel polished in them. You feel put together in them. You feel like they represent who you are.

And when you take your seat at the table, because we really are just kind of curating our unique image as we’re in the second half of life, as we’re growing older, which I love, love, love doing. I love growing older in my own particular vibe and in my own style.

And it has made my life so much more fun. So I just want to encourage you with this today and motivate you to get to work curating a beautiful wardrobe. It doesn’t have to be a lot. You might just start with a capsule wardrobe and then maybe you start collecting pieces intentionally and on purpose that go with it.

Maybe you decide what your favorite pop of color is and you add those colors in. I love all the bright colors. I’m very much into them. I think they all look great on me. I feel so good in them. So that’s what I’m talking about. I want you to feel so fabulous every single day. And this is a way that you can really up-level your life.

So that’s what I have for you today. Get to work on that. Report back to me on Instagram or if you’re a client of mine, report back to me in group this week. I’d love to hear your thoughts about it. I think it’s just going to make your 2024 a year to remember. You’re going to go, “That’s the year I changed my entire style. I curated this whole new idea and I feel so fabulous in my clothes every single day.” And it really is worth the work. It’s worth the investment and worth the work and it’ll be super fun too. It’s super fun.

And there’s lots of stylists out there nowadays that you can hire if you need some help. I’m definitely not a stylist. But I’ve always thought that maybe I would hire a stylist someday if I ever felt like I needed one. Right now I don’t feel like I need one. I’m having the time of life styling myself, I kind of like it. So anyways, I love you all so much for showing up today. Have the most wonderful, stylish, chic week and I will talk to you next Thursday.

If you love this podcast, I invite you to come work with me. Go to kymshowerslifecoach.com, sign up for my next group and retreat, and let’s create your dream life together.